Java 8 update 11 is breaking dev tools

Oracle’s latest Java releases have thrown a spanner in the works for several third-party tools.

It’s been a bumpy old ride for Java 8. Release
delays, an applet
security scare and now an update that’s causing trouble for
developer tools. The Java platform’s most recent releases have been
reported to cause several third-party tools to break. The bug has
been spotted both in Java 8 (update 11) as well as Java 7 (update
65).

ZeroTurnaround is
advising users of its deployment-avoiding tool JRebel that are
experiencing the problem to resort to using Java 8u5 until a fix
comes. Alternatively, the -noverify switch can be used as a
temporary workaround. Several users of the Groovy
programming language have also encountered the problem, while other
tools such as Javassist,
Google’s Guice and Jacoco code coverage are also partially
affected.

Bad <init> method call

According to InfoQ,
the bug can be traced to a modification to the JVM’s bytecode
verification subsystem. Prior to 8u11, the platform did not require
a call to a superclass constructor to be the first action
undertaken by a constructor. By changing this requirement, the most
recent update may have created this new problem for third-party
Java tools.

Although
news of the Java 8 bug, which has been documented on OpenJDK, has
quickly spread, the release date for the bugfix has not yet been
announced by Oracle.

Oracle has previously enforced a strict hierarchy of
bug swotting in order to keep its Java development on schedule.
In the run up to the initial
Java 8 release, only on “showstopper bugs” were prioritised,
while fixes of “non-showstopper bugs” were regularly postponed to
later releases after the global JDK 8 release in March.

Coman was Editor of JAXenter.com at S&S Media Group. He has a master's degree in cultural studies and has written and edited content for numerous news, tech and culture websites and magazines, as well as several ad agencies.